This invention relates in general to coke ovens and, in particular, to a new and useful device for automatically and periodically switching the regenerative heating system of coke oven batteries from one group of heating flues to another, comprising a switchgear equipped with cam cylinders, cam levers, and valves, and using a pressurized or hydraulic fluid, such as oil, for driving working cylinders by which gas and air cocks, valves and other shutoff mechanisms are actuated, and which is also equipped with pressure fluid reservoirs and pressure pumps, and further relates to a device for converting the heating of the battery from one kind of gas to another.